“the male breadwinner model” · Sweden France USA UK Germany Netherlands South Korea Japan •OECD Statistics (1980 – 2010 ) ・female employment rate ・full-time / part-time

Transition away from

“the male breadwinner model”

a cross national comparison

1

Introduction

2

Male

breadwinner

Female caregiver

Wage labour Care labour

The post-war welfare system

Reform

Insecure

employment

Family model

change

Lower birthrate

Aging populations

Introduction

“The M-shaped curve”

of female labour participation

3

Western countries

1970s onwards

Overcame

Japan Korea

Present

Yet to overcome

Women

in labour

market

Work Life Balance

The emblem of

underperformance in gender equality

Research objectives

• To what extent have these countries, which

overcame the M-shaped curve, moved away

from the male breadwinner model?

• How can Japan be positioned cross-

nationally?

• What implications does this give to Japan’s

future paths?

4

Methodology

• 8 countries

Sweden France USA UK Germany Netherlands

South Korea Japan

• OECD Statistics (1980 – 2010 )

・female employment rate

・full-time / part-time rate

・gender wage gap

・part-time rate by age

・working hours (women & men)

5

Methodology

The two points of comparison

• Time

・when the M-shaped curve

is overcome

・5 years later

・10 years later (Japan & Korea: 2000-2010)

• Age (see right →)

・25 – 29 （benchmark）:A

・35 – 39 : B

・40 – 44 : C

・45 – 49 : D

Compare part-time employment

and working hours by age

6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

�20 to 24

�25 to 29

�30 to 34

�35 to 39

�40 to 44

�45 to 49

�50 to 54

�55 to 59

�60 to 64

A

B

C

D

Findings

Sweden France USA

• Overcoming of the M-shape: 1970s-1980s

• Female full-time employment : High

• Gender wage gap : Small

• Working patterns of men & women : Similar

7

Findings

Sweden France USA

8

Country Time Employment

rate(%)

Full-time

employment

rate(%)

Gender wage

gap(%)

Part-time employment

ratios by age

25-29・

35-39 25-29・

40-44 25-29・

45-49

Sweden

★ 1980 74.0 - 17.5 - - -

1985 77.3 70.2 19.6 - - -

1990 81.8 75.5 19.1 - - -

France

★ 1980 50.9 79.7 19.7 1.4 1.5 1.4

1985 49.9 78.4 17.0 1.4 1.5 1.4

1990 51.2 77.5 15.3 1.2 1.4 1.4

USA

★ 1985 60.7 78.4 33.0 1.3 1.2 1.1

1990 65.8 79.8 28.5 1.3 1.1 1.1

1995 67.6 79.8 24.6 1.2 1.1 1

★: When the M-shaped curve is overcome.

Source) OECD, Employment and Labour Market Statistics (database), 2010

Country Time

Men

25-29(age) 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54

35-39 40- 35-39 40- 35-39 40- 35-39 40- 35-39 40- 35-39 40-

France

1983 57.2 39.2 53.6 42.2 53.1 43.0 52.0 44.6 50.5 46.5 51.5 45.8

1985 58.1 37.0 56.4 38.8 53.6 40.9 53.3 41.7 54.0 42.0 53.7 42.0

1990 57.7 37.2 56.3 38.8 56.9 38.3 54.4 40.6 55.9 39.1 56.7 38.7

USA

1985 4.3 89.5 4.2 91.6 4.0 93.1 3.9 93.5 4.0 93.2 4.3 92.3

1990 3.8 89.5 3.5 92.3 3.8 92.5 3.4 93.3 3.8 92.7 3.6 92.6

1995 4.4 88.2 3.0 92.6 3.5 93.2 3.5 92.6 3.7 92.9 3.5 93.0

9

Country Time

Women

25-29(age) 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54

35-39 40- 35-39 40- 35-39 40- 35-39 40- 35-39 40- 35-39 40-

France

1983 60.3 20.5 53.5 20.9 49.6 23.1 46.7 26.5 43.9 30.3 46.5 30.0

1985 62.7 16.9 54.8 19.3 50.5 20.9 46.6 24.7 45.4 27.4 44.5 28.6

1990 59.1 18.9 54.9 17.2 51.6 19.1 51.3 19.8 47.6 22.8 47.3 24.3

USA

1985 11.3 69.2 10.8 65.8 12.1 63.8 12.7 64.0 12.5 65.4 13.4 63.5

1990 10.5 71.1 9.8 67.4 10.7 66.5 11.5 68.4 11.8 68.4 12.9 66.1

1995 9.8 71.0 9.8 68.0 10.3 67.0 10.3 68.5 11.1 70.0 11.2 69.0

Working hours of men and women.


Findings

Sweden France USA

Enhanced conditions for female wage earners

10

Findings

UK Germany Netherlands

• Overcoming the M-shape : 1990s-2000s

• Female part-time employment : High

• Working patterns of men & women : Different

• Women change working patterns in life course

11

Findings



rate(%)

Full-time

employment

rate(%)

Gender

wage

gap(%)


ratios by age

Working hours ratios by age

25-29・35-39(age)

25-29・

35-39 25-29・

40-44 25-29・

45-49 1-19

(h/w) 20-29 30-34 35-39 40-

UK

★ 1995 63.3 59.2 27.4 1.8 1.7 1.5 1.6 2.0 1.7 0.6 0.7

2000 66.5 59.2 25.5 1.8 1.7 1.5 1.8 1.8 1.6 0.7 0.7

2005 67.8 61.5 21.2 1.8 1.7 1.5 1.8 1.8 1.8 0.7 0.7

Germany

★ 2000 58.6 66.1 24.1 1.9 1.9 1.7 1.6 2.4 1.7 0.6 0.8

2005 60.2 61.2 23.1 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.5 2.1 1.4 0.6 0.7

2010 67.1 62.1 21.6 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.6 2.1 1.5 0.7 0.6

Netherlands

2000 63.0 42.8 21.4 2.0 1.9 1.9 2.3 1.8 0.9 0.4 0.4

★ 2005 64.5 39.3 16.7 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.1 1.7 0.8 0.5 0.5

2010 70.1 39.4 — 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.8 1.7 0.9 0.5 0.5

12

★: When the M-shaped curve is overcome.


Country Time Men

25-29(age) 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54

UK

1995 75.8 79.8 78.7 78.3 78.7 74.5

2000 71.9 77.1 76.1 76.1 75.4 73.7

2005 67.0 71.8 72.0 73.0 73.7 70.0

Germany

2000 55.2 58.3 58.0 57.2 57.9 55.7

2005 59.6 63.5 64.5 65.0 64.0 62.6

2010 66.3 71.7 71.5 71.8 70.4 68.4

Netherlands

2000 57.9 57.2 50.6 50.0 49.2 49.8

2005 55.9 57.8 56.0 54.2 51.7 49.2

2010 56.6 60.2 60.5 60.5 56.7 55.0

13

Percentage of men working over 40 hours per week.



Work-Life-Balance as political agenda

• Women reconcile work and family

• Men also targeted

“Combination Scenario” “the Dutch model”

• Share wage labour & care labour between

men and women

14

⇔ Transformation cannot be found in the statistical data

Findings


• Overcoming the M-shape : 1990s – 2000s

• Female part-time employment : High

• Working patterns of men & women : Different

• Women change working patterns in life course

Expected caring roles remain

even after overcoming the M-shaped curve

15

Findings

South Korea Japan

• Overcoming the M-shape : Not yet

• Gender wage gap : Large

• Working hours : Long

• Gap between full-time regular work

and part-time / temporary work

16

Findings

South Korea Japan


rate(%)

Full-time

employment

rate(%)

Gender wage

gap(%)


ratios by age

25-29・

35-39 25-29・

40-44 25-29・

45-49

South

Korea

2000 52.9 90.2 40.4 1.3 1.1 1.0

2005 56.1 87.5 38.3 2.0 1.7 1.6

2010 56.5 84.5 38.9 2.1 1.9 1.8

Japan

2000 60.9 69.1 33.9 2.4 2.5 2.3

2005 62.5 68.3 32.8 2.2 2.4 2.4

2010 66.4 66.1 28.7 2.0 2.2 2.2

17

Largest

Country Time

Women

35-39 40-44 45-49

1-19 20-29 30-34 35-39 40- 1-19 20-29 30-34 35-39 40- 1-19 20-29 30-34 35-39 40-

UK

1995 25.9 20.6 7.7 20.1 25.7 22.8 20.8 7.7 22.8 25.9 21.1 18.8 8.6 23.2 28.4

2000 24.0 20.9 7.7 21.3 26.0 21.0 21.2 8.5 22.1 27.2 16.5 20.2 10.2 25.3 27.8

2005 20.6 21.8 8.9 22.6 26.1 18.4 21.5 10.4 23.9 25.8 15.4 19.0 10.8 26.7 28.1

Germa-

ny

2000 20.6 20.0 8.0 24.9 26.6 18.1 22.1 8.3 24.7 26.8 16.0 20.3 8.3 27.6 27.8

2005 24.4 19.9 9.0 19.6 27.1 22.9 21.7 9.7 19.5 26.1 20.3 22.1 9.9 20.7 27.0

2010 22.2 20.7 10.2 16.2 30.7 22.6 22.1 10.8 15.2 29.3 20.6 21.7 11.5 16.3 29.9

Nether-

lands

2000 33.8 31.8 12.9 12.1 9.3 33.7 29.8 13.7 12.7 10.1 31.8 31.4 15.4 12.6 8.7

2005 31.1 32.1 14.7 12.0 10.1 33.0 32.3 14.9 11.2 8.5 30.6 34.3 15.5 11.3 8.3

2010 23.9 36.0 17.4 12.0 10.7 27.8 35.6 16.6 10.3 9.7 26.5 35.2 17.2 10.1 11.0

Japan

2002 9.9 25.3 10.3 10.3 43.8 9.7 26.4 10.9 9.3 43.4 8.1 25.8 11.0 9.5 45.2

2005 9.1 24.0 10.6 10.6 45.3 9.0 27.2 10.8 9.3 43.4 8.4 26.6 10.9 9.5 44.2

2010 8.6 23.8 11.0 10.7 45.2 9.4 26.1 11.1 10.1 42.9 8.5 26.9 11.0 10.2 43.1

18

Working hours of women in their 30s and 40s.


Highest

Temporary workers

in total employment(%) Women's share of

temporary

employment(%) Men Women

South Korea

2003 20.0 26.8 45.6

2005 21.6 28.0 45.6

2010 15.7 21.8 48.8

Japan

2000 3.1 19.3 80.4

2005 4.1 20.4 77.6

2010 4.5 18.9 75.9

19


Percentage of temporary employment.

Findings

South Korea Japan • Overcoming the M-shape : Not yet

• Gender wage gap : Large

• Working hours : Long

• Gap between full-time regular work

and part-time / temporary work

Peripheral & fragile female wage earners

Caring roles > Earning roles

Perpetuate “the male breadwinner model”

20

Discussion

Group 1

1970s – 1980s

Sweden

France

USA

Enhanced

female wage

labour

Group 2

1990s – 2000s

UK

Germany

Netherlands

Not prominent

female wage

labour

Group 3 Yet to overcome the

M-shape

South Korea

Japan

Peripheral

female wage

labour

21

Directions taken towards overcoming

the male breadwinner model

22

Expand the public sector as employer

Generous cash & service supports

Maximize equal opportunities in the labour market

Sweden

France

USA

1970s

&

1980s

Hard to realize in today’s world

Discussion

Group 1

1970s – 1980s

Sweden

France

USA

Enhanced

female wage

labour

Group 2

1990s – 2000s

UK

Germany

Netherlands

Secondary

female wage

labour

Group 3 Yet to overcome the

M-shape

South Korea

Japan

Peripheral

female wage

labour

23

?

Suggested policy directions for Japan

Reduce the gap between

regular and irregular employment

• Security for irregular work

• Equal treatment between them

Expand the choice of working styles

• Work from home

• Flexible shifts between full-time & part-time

24

Suggested policy directions for Japan

Overcoming the M-shaped curve

25

More women

In labour

market

Better work

life balance

for women

Not the end of the process of the transition

away from the male breadwinner model

Limited effect on the transformation

of gendered division of labour

Conclusion

• Varying degrees of transition away from the male

breadwinner model

• Group 2 countries as a more viable option for Japan

• A gendered division of labour could remain after

overcoming the M-shaped curve

• The various methods to overcome the M-shaped

curve

• More subtle differences between the countries of the

same group

26

Further in-depth analysis:

policy development – gendered division of labour

fin.

Thank you

27

Documents

“the male breadwinner model” · Sweden France USA UK Germany Netherlands South Korea Japan •OECD Statistics (1980 – 2010 ) ・female employment rate ・full-time / part-time